Sunday, 3 January 2010

Eating crow now alright

Having been so pleased with my lack of weight/fat gain over Christmas, I've just managed to weigh in 2.5kg heavier than 3 weeks ago. Way to go! AND I've done 3 really hard weights sessions this week where I've increased the weights quite significantly (for me - e.g. bicep curls which are new in this routine, I've upped from 5kg dumbbells to 7kg dumbbells in 3 sessions - 40% increase!) on some exercises and increased a bit on most. I ache like a bugger and my belly is wobbling; nice contrast there! I don't fit into shirts I fitted into nicely 3 weeks ago. It's all down to bad eating and too much drinking. I know that. I had a huge pile of bread yesterday for the first time in a very very long time and my stomach was phenomenally uncomfortable afterwards - I'm just not used to eating bread much any more.

So. Never has it been a better time to get a grip on food and drink and get back to doing things properly, and in fact take things up a notch:-

I will complete 3 weights sessions per week (not a feeble 2; but work commitments may torpedo this sometimes) of 40+ minutes.

I will complete 1-3 cardio sessions a week of 30+ minutes hard effort.

I will take part in at least 2 of the 4 Thames Turbo sprint triathlon series.

I will increase my protein intake overall as a proportion of my daily nutrition - by using protein supplements where/if necessary.

I will significantly decrease my intake of simple carbohydrates; bread (eat that maybe once a week anyway), potatoes, pasta (almost never eat that anyway)

I will not cut out couscous (I like it a lot and it's a great complex carbohydrate)

I will have no more than 1/2 bottle of wine per week (or 2x cans of lower alcohol beer) and it will count as a cheat/free meal in itself.

I will post my food and exercise plan/results every day (90% of the time averaged over a month)

And the lesser ones:-

I will try yogurt with fruit in/on and maybe some nuts for breakfast at least 4 times before giving up if I don't like it.

I will make lunches up in bulk a couple of days in advance to make things easier.

I will try to fear nuts less as a snack - yes they're very calorific for their weight/bulk but they -are- good for me in small amounts.

I will eat bananas as a snack before exercise only (or within 2 hours either side of it, but at no other times)

Wish me luck; it's going to take a bit more discipline than I've been maintaining the last few months.

I've got a skiing holiday in March which may mess things up a bit due to "Sno Camp" being on a Thursday for six weeks which means no weights on Wednesday or Friday as it looks like there will be at least some strength training in those sessions. Not quite worked out how to work around that and keep up the cardio and have 2 rest days in the week, so we're thinking maybe that it'd be better not to do "Sno Camp" at all; it's bound to be targetted at people who have done bugger all exercise all year anyway - and... have you -seen- my thighs?